So, Adam and Adrian were already waiting in the pub forecourt on Crystal Palace Parade when I arrived.
Alan turned up a few moments later…..
As we weren’t expecting anyone else, a few minutes before eight we turned our backs on the rising sun and accompanied by diesel fumes from a Dennis fire engine which had just struggled up Anerley Hill from the park, and the fruity V8 burble of an as-yet-to-be-restored pick-up, we headed south to….
We stopped briefly alongside the former Croydon Aerodrome – London’s first airport, and I managed to capture the following shots, included in which are IKEA’s chimneys on the skyline.
The next stop was Broadfield Stadium in Crawley – half way more or less – thanks to my cr@p navigation it was Adrian who got us there.
Yes, I do it badly, not just in the night but in broad daylight too.
This was the first opportunity we had to get a closer look at the variety of trucks that had accompanied us for the last 25 miles or so. Sometimes they overtook us, other times we overtook them.
I guess the most striking / attractive things about the commercial vehicles was the variety of vehicle types, the multicoloured panoramas of their liveries and the attention to some of the period detail.
In this way I think the Historic Commercial Vehicles Society run differs significantly from the Veteran car run in November.
Stand back! I’m going in!
I had to include this one – simply because the name of the owner / operator
As mentioned earlier, period detail made an enormous difference to how these vehicles appear. Many owner / operators had period cargo on their flatbeds or in the backs of their vans.
Like so:
It all contributed significantly to the look – unfortunately the regulation tail lights conforming to EU standards fitted to many vehicles had the opposite effect.
You could almost hear the
Belles of St.Trinian’s ringing when we saw this.
This one, had a numberplate sized plate on the back which said ‘Two Stroke’ which between us caused a fair amount of eyebrow raising and beard stroking in puzzlement – but the commentator in Brighton did confirm that two stroke it was – even though it sounded to us like a conventional diesel.
Our arrival in Brighton, following some 3.5hrs of cycling meant that we saw some of these on Madeira Drive
Some of which were in steam – the odd thing was we hadn’t seen any
en route – so they either must’ve travelled very, very early or been trailered there.
I would not like to have the job of turning the starting handle on this.
It comes from another era.
When men were men……
We didn’t know what the criteria was for entering a truck in the Historical Commercial Vehicle Run to Brighton – furthermore puzzled when we saw this (albeit very attractive) wrecker from the early seventies:
And this one from even later
Although the only real surprise is that the tin worm hadn’t got to it sooner.
The first car I owned was powered by the same engine as this Bedford J3
How is that pronounced?
Windy?
I think this was my flavour
de jour.
The styling department had clearly spent the afternoon in the matinee performance of Flash Gordon, or was it Buck Rogers?
From the elegant sweeping swages eminating along the flanks from the wheels, to the teardrop shaped indicators.
And then it all went horribly wrong.
What, in god’s name, is going on with the ‘one up / one down’ windscreen wipers?
And likewise with the ‘one up / one down’ wing mirrors?
This vehicle had equilibrium – and then what happened? A committee?
Bah!
The one thought we had about this bus was that with all that glass, and the glass roof, and the (almost certain) lack of AC – it would’ve made for a sweaty coach trip on a summer’s day.
A few details
In conclusion it was a very fine day out in excellent company.
The truck run is nowhere near as popular as the Vet car run in November.
But there were some 200 participants, and plenty of folk were out on the streets (I think we figured highly in a lot of enthusiasts footage) to cheer the vehicles on.
It is a different event to the November one, and on that basis I can see me doing this ride again in a year’s time.
Thanks again, to Adrian, Adam and Alan for a great day out.
EDIT- Refreshment was had from The Madeira Cafe (of FNRttC fame) whose hospitality extended to inviting us to store our bikes within their premises whilst we perambulated along the promenade.
How good is that?
